The Mansion
by VioletWingedPerfection
Summary: The brothers follow rumors of the stone to an old, rundown house.But this house has inhabitents that aren't really, friendly
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! This is not my first FanFic, but it is the first FMA one I actually put on here. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: sigh Oh how I wish I owned FullMetal Alchemist!

Edward Elric looked down at the sheet of paper he held in one gloved hand, and then he looked back up at the address engraved on the crumbling stonewall. He sighed and called over his shoulder to his brother.

"This is it Al! Come on, let's go!" Ed impatiently crossed his arms as he watched the hulking figure in silver armor came walking slowly toward him.

"But brother! I think I heard something in the trees over there, it sounded like a cat. I wanted to help it!"

"Oh Al!" Ed hit himself on the head with the heel of his left hand, "Not another lost cat!"

"It sounded hurt, can't we at least try to find it and see if it is in trouble?" Alphonse pleaded.

"Trust me Al, I don't think there IS a cat! And if we do find it, what are you going to do with it? We can't keep you know!"

"Yeah, I know. It's because you're so mean." Alphonse sounded like if he could have stuck his tongue out at Edward, he definitely would have.

Ed just looked at his younger brother, who had turned his back on him; he always felt a guilty that Al couldn't have a normal childhood. That Alphonse, his brother and only family that hadn't died, or ran out on him, couldn't even have a pet growing up, he had always been tagging along with his older brother, doing military jobs, and looking for the philosopher's stone.

Ed's guilt always got the better of him, even though he knew perfectly well that Alphonse didn't blame him one bit for any of it, not even for the fact that it was Ed's idea that ultimately lead to his brother's soul being incased in that cursed shell.

Edward sighed,_ why do I always give in to him?_ He thought.

"Okay, Al, let's take a look."

_I'm going to regret this, I'm sure of it._

The youngest Elric turned around "Really brother? You'll look for that cat I heard? " He sounded so happy that for a moment Edward had to smile, "Yeah, I'll look, but after this we really have to get moving."

"Right"

Al led the way to a clump of bushes a few yards away.

"Here, this is where I heard the mewing" He pointed to a small hole in the mass of leaves.

"Al, you have to be joking, you don't want me to actually crawl in there, do you?"

"And why not? It's not like you can't fit!" Al said innocently.

Ed knew that his little brother was just joking around, that he would never actually insult Edward about his height. Not when Ed was so touchy about it, still, the blond haired alchemist pretended to be hurt.

"That's nice Alphonse," His voice was muffled as he tried to squeeze into the small, leafy passage, "Make fun of your older brother when he's trying to do something nice for you."

"I'm sorry Ed, but hurry, okay?"

" 'Hurry' he says!" Ed spoke out loud but he knew that Al couldn't hear him, heck; he could barely hear himself because of all the leaves that were in his mouth. He spit them out and continued wiggling through "If Mustang could see me now." He laughed in spite of himself, "Oh, he'd make fun of me forever!"

The oldest Elric imagined the Colonel roaring in laughter at the idea of the famous Full Metal Alchemist trying to squish into a passage looking for a cat that probably didn't exist. This image pissed Ed off, and it wasn't even real.

_Why do I always let Mustang get under my skin?_ Ed asked himself, _because,_ he answered himself,_ he gives you information on the philosopher's stone that no one else will._

"What good is his information if I don't use it?" Edward grumbled to himself, "that mansion behind that gate over there has the same address of the house that the colonel heard has some information about the stone! And here I am, not investigating it, but trampling the bushes next to it!"

This time his younger brother heard him "What'd you say brother?" Alphonse yelled through the small hole at the other end of the tunnel, "Did you find that poor kitty yet?"

"No Al! I really don't think there is one." Ed backed out. He straightened his red cape out and brushed the dirt off the knees and his black pants. "Sorry." He added to his brother.

"I really thought I heard one!" Alphonse sounded so disappointed that Ed had to go over and pat his brother comfortingly on the shoulder, or as close to his shoulder as he could reach. "Don't worry Al, as soon as you get you body back I promise we'll stop traveling so much and get you a pet, okay?" Ed smiled at his younger brother, hoping to cheer the boy up.

"Alright, you promise Ed? As soon as I get my body back?"

"Yup, and that may be sooner than you expect, if the information Mustang gave me is correct."

The young alchemists looked up toward the run-down mansion looming over them atop a steep hill. There was a high stonewall surrounding it, with a padlocked wrought iron gate just as tall guarding the pathway to the top.

"Are you sure this is the right place, brother? It looks kind of gloomy for an alchemist to live in."

"Or any one else for that matter." Edward agreed. "Look at these walls, when they were put up I bet they were great protection, but now they're so old you can almost break through them with your bare hands. Never mind having them keep people out you when you're hiding something in there everyone is after."

"The philosopher's stone?"

"Exactly Al. Now, whoever is in there is definitely not an alchemist. An alchemist would have made sure these walls were strong enough to keep everyone out. Who ever is in there is very powerful if he doesn't need walls to keep people from getting to the stone. Or information about the stone." Edward mused.

"You really think that we have to worry about the person, or people in that run-down house, brother?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it."

Alphonse gazed worriedly through the rusted bars of the gate to the mansion on the hill, large windows on the top floor stared out at him, cold and mean.

_I wonder what waits for Ed and I in that creepy place,_ Al thought,_ it seems so foreboding, so unwelcoming, why is that?_

Well, that's the first chapter! Hope you don't mind the randomness in the beginning! I just couldn't resist writing about Alphonse and a kitten. Oh, he is so adorable, isn't he? sigh, even in that armor he's sexy, and out of it too, of course.

Well, I really hope you guys will keep reading my fic! I'll update soon okay? And please review, because what's the point of posting stories if no one's gonna read them! See ya!

 Jenni 


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone! Hope you liked my last chapter. But please review. Okay? I need some feedback from my loyal fans!

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own FMA either, sorry.

_Alphonse gazed worriedly through the rusted bars of the gate to the mansion on the hill, large windows on the top floor stared out at him, cold and mean._

_I wonder what waits for Ed and I in that creepy place, Al thought, it seems so foreboding, so unwelcoming, why is that?_

Alphonse turned to look at his older brother, who was carefully looking over the almost rusted-through front gate.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Alphonse came up behind him, but Ed ignored him and, after a second, grabbed the padlock, and yanked.

It came off in his hand.

Edward turned to grin at Alphonse, who was looking at him astonished. "That lock was almost rusted through," Edward explained, "So it was almost ready to fall off anyway." Ed eased opened the gate with a _creak_ and slipped inside the grounds. Before Al could react Ed was already halfway up the long, twisting path. "Coming, Al?" He called over his shoulder. "Yes brother" Alphonse hurried to catch up.

The house loomed over them as they stopped in front of the front steps that led up to the porch. The brothers craned their necks and surveyed the missing bricks in the walls, the crumbling chimneys, (five, that they could see), and the cracked windowpanes.

"Nice place." Edward commented sarcastically, starting up the rotted stairs.

"It was probably nice when it was first built." Alphonse said absent-mindly, still gazing up at the broken windows.

"Al! Let's go!" Ed was already halfway inside.

"Coming" Alphonse quickly caught up with Ed, who was cautiously creeping around in the shadows of the entrance hall.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, if there are people in here, we don't want them sneaking up on us, do we?" Ed snapped. "It's better we find them first, before they find us."

"I got it." Al tried to be as quiet as he could while following his brother, but his clanking armor echoed in the still of the large entry hallway.

"Al, is there anyway you could be quieter?" Edward asked after a while.

"Not really, brother." Alphonse sounded defensive, "It's this armor, I couldn't sneak up on anyone if I tried-"

But he was cut off abruptly when the almost rotted-through wood on the floor cracked under the weight of his armor.

"BROTHER!" He screamed as he fell through.

"AL!" Edward rushed to the hole in the floor; it was way too dark to see the bottom. "Al?" He repeated.

"Brother, I'm okay!" Al voice cut through the silence, "It's not too far down, but it sure is dark down here"

Edward sighed with relief, "Okay, Al, I'm coming down."

"Be careful" Alphonse warned him.

Ed swiftly brought his hands together and then touched the side of the hole; there was a flash of blue light, and the nothing.

"Al?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you see if there is a slab of wood sticking out there for me to land on? I can't see from way up here."

Alphonse reached up above him and felt around.

"Yup, it's here."

"Good, okay, I'm coming down!"

Ed jumped in, and slid down the wall until he came to a stop a few feet from the ground.

"Well," he grumbled as he jumped to the ground, "If whoever it is doesn't know we were here before, they sure as heck do now."

"I'm sorry." Alphonse apologized meekly.

"It's not your fault, Al." Ed sighed and looked around. "I can't see a single thing! And the sun is going down too! Where do ya suppose we are?"

"It seems like we' re in the basement." Alphonse looked around, "It's too big to be another room, and it feels like it goes on almost the whole length of the house." (A/N you know how you can sometimes _feel_ that a room is big, even if you can't see it?)

Ed moved blindly forward, his hands out-stretched, but he bumped into something anyway.

"Oww!' He reached down to rub his left leg. "What is _this_ thing?"

"I dunno brother, but there's more of them!" Al felt his way a few feet down. "Whatever they are, they're spread out every few inches, as far down as I can tell, and probably in the whole room as well!"

"Wish I could see." Ed muttered, "Where's the Flame Alchemist when you need him?" Ed had a couple of matches in his coat pocket, but he needed a torch or something.

_Maybe there's on along the side!_ He thought, and immediately started running his hand along the cold, concrete, walls.

"What are you looking for, Ed?" Al asked.

"You'll know if I find one." Edward answered his brother through gritted teeth. _Come on, _he begged silently,_ the sun's almost down and soon we'll be stuck with no light at all!_ His hand brushed something.

"Yes!" Edward exclaimed, triumphantly holding up the torch. He plunged his hand into his pocket and extracted the matches.

"Oh, a torch! Great idea brother!"

"Thank you Alphonse, can you hold this a second while I light this?"

"Yup, I can't wait till we can see where we are! And what these things are that are all over the floor!"

"Definitely" Ed agreed, striking a match. He lit the torch, and took it from Al.

The flickering light sent weird shadows across the surroundings, making stationary objects dance and leap like they were alive. It was hard to see at first, but when the brother's eyes adjusted there was no mistaking the objects that lied in front of them.

They were long, around six feet each, made of wood. At one time, they were obviously polished brightly, but years of dirt had worked its way into the grain, staining each one with filth that would never fade. They did indeed stretch the entire length and width of the room that the Elric brothers stood in. And the room was huge; almost as big as the entire ground floor of the mansion, it looked like. The brothers couldn't even see the back from the poor light that the torch offered them. Even so, despite the dancing light and shadows there was no two ways about it; these objects were coffins.

Ha! A cliffhanger! I really hate these when I'm reading, but I just _had _to put one in! So, did ya enjoy it? I kind of enjoyed writing it! Hope you guys come back for more! Because hopefully I'm gonna update soon! Oops! Don't wanna jinx myself!

(knocks on wood) Peace you guys!

Jenni


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter on here, I've been kind of…Grounded from the computer. It's a long story. So I'm really, really sorry about the delay. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Ha Ha! You don't own FMA! Ha, ha ha- oh, right, neither do I.

Previous Chapter:

_There was no two ways about it, these objects were coffins._

Edward Elric just stared in stunned silence for a second. _Coffins? _He thought, perplexed_ why would coffins be in this house? _

"Brother?" Al interrupted his thoughts, "Brother, are those what I think they are? Those are coffins, right?"

Edward sighed, "Yeah, Al, it sure looks like they are."

"Any idea how, or why they're here, brother?"

"I wish I knew Al, but I can't really think of an explanation right now. Except for maybe a crazy murderer who killed all these people."

Alphonse gave a frightened squeak "Murderer?" He repeated tearfully.

"Oh! But don't worry Al!" Ed tried to reassure his younger brother, "Why would a murderer go to all the trouble of getting _coffins_ for his victims? Not to mention, we don't even know _what's_ in these coffins, it doesn't have to be people!"

"I guess, but shouldn't we see what's in them? Just in case?"

Ed glanced distastefully at the grimy cases; he really didn't want to see what was in them. _It would probably be better to go get the military or someone to come here and investigate._ He reasoned.

"I don't think so Al, let's try to get out of this hole, and go get more of the military to come back with us."

"But we can't!" Alphonse protested, "What if the stone's really here? Then what would we do?"

"I really don't think it's here Al."

"But you don't know!"

"Al, really let's go. It's getting dark." Edward cast a nervous glance at the coffins; they were starting to creep him out a little.

"_Okay_" Alphonse said irritably, "How are we supposed to get out of here?"

Ed surveyed the hole, "I got it!" He said suddenly. "Hoist me up out of here and…"

"What about me!" Alphonse demanded.

"Al! You interrupted me! What I was going to say was you hoist me up and I'll-"

"No! How about this-"

The brothers were so preoccupied with arguing how to get out of their predicament, that they didn't notice when all the coffins in the room behind them suddenly creaked open.

"Brother, look, you know perfectly well that if I get out first then I can just pull you out."

"Yes, that's true Al, but we can also-"

Slowly, ever so slowly, dark figures eased themselves out of the coffins, and started to sneak up behind the Elrics. The boys didn't even notice until a sly voice behind them spoke up:

"Well, well, looks like our dinner came to us today, doesn't it?"

The brothers whirled around and came face to face with a living skeleton. Or at least that's what the creature that was leering at them most closely resembled. He had sunken calk-white cheeks, and long, dirty matted black hair. His red eyes were like the pits of hell, searing with hatred and something that Ed didn't want to acknowledge as hunger. He licked his teeth, and from inside his mouth, Ed saw long, deadly pointed teeth. The ripped garments that served as its clothes hung loose on the frame, and its hands were death white as well, but strong.

Behind this man there was more of his kind, their eyes all gleaming with excitement and hunger.

"Let's see," The first man was saying, "Which one of you are we to eat first?"

"The one in the armor!" The other's yelled. "He's the biggest, too bad the blond has to be so small!"

Al glanced in horror at his older brother, he could almost see smoke coming out of Ed's ears.

"Who are you calling so small he could only be an appetizer?" He yelled, while taking a swing at the nearest offender.

He caught the man by surprise, and Edward's right hand made a sickening crunch as it collided with his pale face.

Ed smiled with satisfaction, but the creature smiled even wider, and before Ed knew it, the man was laughing. Laughing! The others behind them joined in, and soon the walls shook with the scratchy laughter of the creatures.

"Idiot!" The first one said, still chuckling, "You cannot kill us! You cannot harm us! I thought you would have figured it out by now!" He leaned in close to the brothers, "Do you what we are?"

Despite the fear creeping in on Edward, he said defiantly "Do we care?"

"You should, child. For we are the damned, Satan's children, the one who are neither living nor dead. The ones who must dine on the humans to survive." He raised his hands to indicate the ones standing behind him as well, and then he whispered, "We are _vampires_!"

Alphonse took another step backward in horror, but his older brother stood his ground.

"Not true," he said, "Vampires don't exist!"

"HA! Keeping on believing that, little boy. You'll realize how wrong you are after the last drop of your blood has been drained." The vampire turned to the others, "Tie them up"

Alphonse was certainly strong enough to fight off regular humans, but against these ones he would never win. So Ed whispered to him just to stay calm, and they'd get out eventually. He wasn't about to become some monster's snack, he said.

After they were tied up, the leader came forward again.

"Are we all ready to dine?" He asked the crowd.

"Never been more ready." A vampire answered from the front, his eyes gleaming as he licked his fangs. The others agreed with him.

"Good." The leader turned back to the boys, who, despite Ed's plan, were still struggling against they're bindings.

"I'll take a sip first" He said, and he bent down to Edward's eye level. "I think I'll change my mind," He said cheerfully, "I think we will eat you first, as an appetizer, just like you said."

The vampire leaned down; his fangs only inches from Edward's neck, when all of a sudden there came a voice. A women's voice.

"What have we got here?" She asked, her voice was low, and sultry, "Were you all going to have a buffet and not tell me about it?"

The man vampire turned away from Ed's neck reluctantly.

Welcome back, master." He said grumpily, but bowing low just the same.

The others also bowed to a figure standing in shadow at the far end of the room. Edward craned his neck as best he could with his bindings, but he couldn't see her face.

"You all caught something and you weren't going to wait for me? Your master? How rude!"

The women stepped out of the shadows, and Ed and Al both gasped. The lady was beautiful; her hair was black, like the others, but tinted with brown and hung down her back. Her eyes, although red, had a softer, more human look to them.

Her skin was pale, like the ones standing around her, and contrasted sharply with those crimson eyes. _She_ was not wearing rags, the women was clad in a low-cut, tight black dress that draped itself gracefully about her feet. And tight, elbow length black leather gloves. Also, she had a flaming red cloak that was just as long as her dress. Around her neck, he had a delicate silver chain, and that's it, nothing was attached to it.

_This woman is their master?_ Edward thought in wonder,_ but she can't be a vampire! She's too human looking!_

The raven-haired lady approached the captured boys, "Hmm, kind of small, but nectar is nectar." She smiled, and Edward could see fangs, just like the other vampires. _She's one of them all right_. He thought dryly.

"Nectar?" Alphonse asked, despite his fear, was puzzled.

The women rolled her eyes, "Blood, I think is what you _humans_ call it." She turned to look sternly at her fellow vampires, "I am really disappointed in all of you, do you not respect your master enough to save her food?"

_Obviously not_, Edward thought, after noticing the looks of disgust and hate the woman's followers had on their face as she lectured then. _I wonder why?_

"I shall be the first one to drink, and while I feed I'll think about whether or not you all deserve to have some."

"Yes master." The others mumbled, and she turned back to the boys.

"Now I think I'll drink from _you_ first" She said, and approached Alphonse. She reached down to pull off his helmet, and Edward held his breath, _what happens when she sees there's nothing there?_ He wondered.

Her black- gloved hands were just inches from the steel, when the women noticed the red caduceus on Al's shoulder. For a moment she just stared at it, then turned away from Al.

"You will untie these boys immediately." She said, her voice flat and expression-less.

"But…" The other vampires started to protest.

"_NOW"_ She commanded, a note of warning in her voice, and they moved forward instantly to unbind the Elric brothers.

The women watched them in silence, then when they were both free, and Ed was rubbing his wrists were the rope had scratched, she said "All, of you, go out and feed tonight, and _do not come back until I call you._ Understand?"

"Yes, master." And too the brother's astonishment, all the other vampires turned into bats with a poof of black smoke, and flew out of the hole in the ceiling.

The lady vampire waited until the last one was out, and approached the boys, a small grin growing on her lips.

Oh, another cliffhanger! I am on a streak, aren't I? I apologize for those who don't like them, but it does keep you reading!

I'll update as soon as I can, granted I don't get grounded again! I'll try really hard to be good, just for my fans, kay?

Luv to everyone!

Jenni


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